Take a Guess
by LoveNaley23
Summary: Takes place after season 6. When Haley takes over Red Bedroom Records after Peyton moves out of town, things start to get a little creepy...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a quiet day at Red Bedroom Records but Haley James Scott had a lot to do. She sat at her big desk in the corner of the office at the studio and was busy responding to emails, answering phone calls, scheduling, and taking care of some paper work that had been piling up over the past couple of weeks. Running the studio had been a lot more work than she thought it would be when her friend Peyton asked her to take over when she decided to leave Tree Hill and do some traveling with Lucas and their new baby girl, Sawyer. Peyton had made it look so easy when she was here, she always seemed to have everything under control. Haley wondered how she had managed to do it all on her own. It was a lot of work and it got stressful at times but Haley did love it. She really enjoyed getting to work with the artists and share her talent in ways that she never had before. She also liked the fact that it kept her busy now that she was no longer teaching at Tree Hill high and Jamie had gone back to school, she now had some more time on her hands and needed something to keep her busy. On days like today though, that consisted of endless phone calls and reading through hundreds of emails, Haley wished that Peyton was still here as she was much better at taking care of all of that and Haley could just enjoy her time in the studio making her own music or collaborating with the other artists.

Today was an especially busy day because although none of their currently signed artists had studio time, Haley had to get all the office work finished before their open auditions started tomorrow. For the next two days, the doors of the studio would be open to any new artists or bands looking to take the next step in their careers and working towards making it big. Haley liked the few artists they currently had signed with them and were working with. She was happy and content with the talent that they had, but Peyton insisted that they needed to sign more people. Mostly, because the big label was always asking for more than a small studio like this one could produce but they did a lot for them so Peyton tried her best to give them what they asked for, as long as it was somewhat reasonable that is.

On days like today Haley had wished that Mia was around to give a helping hand. Mia loved helping out at the studio. When she wasn't working on her own music or out touring, she always enjoyed getting in the studio with the other artists and giving them some creative feedback. She even helped with the phone calls and the work load that often piled up when Haley got lost spending too much of her time focusing on the music stuff and not enough on all the other things that came along with running this place. Haley was thankful that Mia was so eager to help. She was the first artist RBR had ever signed and Mia was so grateful that they had taken a chance on her that she wanted to do whatever she could to help out and keep this place going, even if that meant spending hours sorting through boring emails. But today Mia was out of town. She had left a few days earlier to travel to New York for a benefit concert and shoot a video while she was there so she wouldn't be back in Tree Hill until after the weekend. Haley was happy for Mia and knew that she was doing a wonderful thing but she still wished she had a little help this week.

After a long and quiet morning in the studio, Haley was startled when she heard her cell phone vibrate on the other side of her desk, taking her away from her work. Reaching for it, she read the name that popped up on the screen and smiled. Her mood just got a whole lot better.

"We still on for lunch? 1:00 right?" the text read after Haley unlocked her phone to read the message.

"Yup! I could totally use the break. See you soon!" Haley instantly replied.

Haley looked down at the clock and realized she only had about 20 minutes to get herself together and make it downtown in time for her lunch date. She quickly finished up the email she had been writing before she got the text and then started gathering up her things. As soon as she got her purse together and was headed out, she heard the studio phone ring. Rolling her eyes, she turned back around and stared at the phone for a brief moment, contemplating whether or not to answer. "It can wait" she thought, with that, she was on her way out the door again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Haley pulled into the parking lot with a feeling of relief. She had been stuck inside all week drowning in her work at the studio. It was a beautiful day in Tree Hill and she was excited to get outside and hang out downtown for a while. She walked into the restaurant and scanned the booths, searching for someone. It only took a few moments before she spotted the person she had been looking for and she made her way over to the table they were already seated at, looking through a menu.

"Hey" Haley said eagerly with her big friendly smile, as she took off her purse and sat down at the empty seat at the table.

"Hey Hales!" she was greeted by a familiar face that she was so happy to see, after such a stressful morning. "How are things at the studio?"

"Insane. I don't know how Peyton managed to do all of that by herself. I feel like no matter how much I do, the work load just never seems to get lighter. And getting ready for these open auditions has been much more difficult than I anticipated. I don't know how I'm going to do it all."

"Don't worry, you will. I know you Haley, and you always manage to figure everything out and do a fantastic job. You've got this!"

"Thanks, I hope so." Haley said with a nervous smile. She loved her best friend, Brooke Davis. She had the kind of energy that always helped brighten up Haley's day and could instantly put her in a better mood when she was feeling sad or stressed. Haley was grateful to have her as a friend and was even more grateful that Brooke had invited her to spend the afternoon together for lunch to get her out for a little while. "Anyways, on to a more exciting subject, how's the party planning going? Anything I can help with?" Haley asked.

"Haley, as much as I would love your help, you're way too busy as it is. I appreciate the offer but I think I'll be able to do it, and besides, I have Millie to help me." Brooke explained.

"Well, still call me if you need anything, I'd love to help out" Haley replied as the waitress approached their table to take their orders. After they both ordered iced teas and salads for themselves, the waitress left, and as the girls waited on their meals to arrive, Haley was eager to hear more about the party planning, anything to take her mind away from all the work she still had left to do. "So, tell me, what's going on with this party?" Haley pleaded.

"Not too much just yet. I still have a lot of details I need to figure out. I want everything to be perfect. It has to be special." Brooke replied.

"It will be. Who knows how to throw a party better than Brooke Davis?" Haley reassured her friend.

"Okay true. But still, I want Julian to love it. He's been working so hard on this new movie recently and I just want him to at least have one night for himself. He deserves to have the best birthday ever."

"And he will, especially since you are the one putting it all together for him." Haley said. "So where is this awesome party taking place?"

"At that fancy banquet hall, right outside the city. I haven't booked anything yet but I called and got some prices and opening dates. Oh and that reminds me, I have to ask you, what's Nathan's schedule? I'd like to plan it for a night that he's able to be home if that's possible. I know Julian would like it if he came."

"Um, I'm not sure. I'll check with him and get back to you soon, if that's alright with you?"

"Yeah, of course. There's no rush, we still have plenty of time. How's that going by the way? Are you doing okay?" Brooke asked.

"I'm hanging in there. I'm so proud of him, he's worked so hard, I mean, this is his dream. It's what we've always wanted but I miss him. It's hard not having him around." Haley sighed as she thought about the absence of her husband. He was a big NBA player now and she couldn't be happier for him but it also made her incredibly sad. He was away a lot when he had played for the Chiefs and they got through that but this was different. This way more than she was ready for. Haley felt selfish for wishing that Nathan was home more even though she knew he was out living his dream. She was very independent and was perfectly capable of being on her own but she loved him so much and wanted to have him around. He always had a way of making everything better for her just by being near her.

"I know what you mean, I miss Julian so much when he takes on these big projects. I can't imagine how much harder it must be for you though, with Jamie and all. How's he dealing with all of this?"

"He's a tough kid. He's definitely taking it better than I am. But you know how those two are, they've practically been joined at the hip since the day Jamie was born. That kid adores his father." Haley smiled as she thought about how close her son and her husband were. She loved their relationship. It made her happy to know that Nathan finally got the father-son relationship he had always wanted and that Jamie had the most wonderful dad to look up to. "Jamie gets sad sometimes but he also thinks it's cool have an NBA player as a dad. He could spend all night talking to Nathan on the phone about all kinds of cool NBA stuff after one of his practices if I let him." Haley laughed, thinking about her boys.

Once the food arrived, the girls enjoyed their lunch and continued to chat about the details of Julian's birthday surprise and all the fun things Brooke was planning for him. Brooke really was the best at planning parties and Haley was really excited for it. She couldn't wait to spend a fun night away from the studio, stress free, with all her friends and especially her husband who she missed like crazy.

"So did you want to go shopping or something?" Brooke asked once they had each finished their food and waited for their check.

"Ugh, I wish. I still have so much I need to get done before the auditions start tomorrow and if I work too late, I don't get much time to spend with Jamie after he gets home from school. He already has one parent that is away at work all the time, I don't want to make that two." Haley explained.

"That's okay, I guess I could get some more party planning done. Oh and you have to see what I'm designing to wear to it! It's not done yet but when it is, it's going to be incredible!" Brooke said, getting all excited the way that she does when she has something amazing that she's working on.

"I'm sure it'll be fabulous, it always is. I bet Julian will think so too!" Haley replied. "Anyways, we can catch up another time, maybe this weekend?"

"Yeah, this weekend is perfect! Now get out of here, you have work to do, missy."

"What about the check?" Haley asked as the waitress came by, handing Brooke their bill.

"It's on me. Take it as a thanks for being such a great friend. And also for finding a really awesome band to play at Julian's party!" Brooke said with a wink.

"What? I never agreed to that!"

"Well I just treated you to lunch, so you owe me."

"You sure are something, Brooke Davis." Haley said as she got up from the table, laughing at how persuasive her friend could be.

"You love me though!" Brooke shouted across the restaurant as Haley made her way towards the door.

"That, I do. See you later!" Haley called, turning around to blow a kiss in her direction before she proceeded out into the busy streets of downtown. The fresh air felt nice on her face as she walked to her car. She really enjoyed hanging out with Brooke for a couple hours to get her a nice break from work but now she dreaded going back. This was going to be a long week.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

*Beep beep beep* Haley groaned at the sound of her alarm clock as she rolled over in her very large and empty feeling bed. Had 6 am really come that fast? All she wanted to do was fall back asleep and spend the rest of the day tucked away under her nice warm covers but of course, another busy day called her name. Time to get up.

Haley reached for her cell phone on the night stand as she crawled out of bed. She had about a half hour before she could expect Jamie to wake up so she decided to use this time to take a quick shower. She unlocked her phone as she walked into the bathroom. She had 3 messages but there was only one that she cared to read this early in the morning. "Good morning, beautiful" it read. "Good luck today. Call me later. Love you!" A huge smile came across her face as she read her husband's thoughtful message. They had talked on the phone before she had gone to bed last night and he could tell that she was stressed about today. She wished that she could call him up right then and there but she knew that he would already be hard at work in the gym. He liked to get his own workout in early in the mornings before the team got together for practice and she didn't want to distract him so she'd just have to settle for later that evening. "Thanks babe! Have a great day. Talk to you later. Love you too!" she responded before hopping into the shower.

"Jamie hurry up! You're going to be late!" Haley called from downstairs in the kitchen. "Your breakfast is going to get cold." She had made her son some scrambled eggs with toast to eat before she dropped him off at school. The older he got, the longer it seemed to take him to get ready for school in the mornings. Haley did not have time for this today. There was so much she still had to do at the studio before the auditions started. She was already freaking out enough, the last thing she needed was to be rushing around.

"James Lucas Scott, if you are not down those stairs within the next 30 seconds, dressed and ready for school, you will not be spending the weekend with your Uncle Skills." She hated saying things like that. It reminded her of when she was a little girl and her own mother would yell and nag at her older siblings, but what could she do? It worked-sometimes.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." Her short, blonde haired, 6 year old moaned as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Your food is on the table. You don't have a lot of time though. I want to be out the door in about 15 minutes."

"Thanks mama!" Jamie's said as he took a seat and immediately dug into the breakfast she had prepared for him.

"Would you like an apple or some carrots in your lunch today?" Haley asked as she packed up his lunchbox.

"How about some cookies?"

"Oh nice try, but it's not gonna happen. You need to eat your fruits and vegetables if you want to get big and strong and be in the NBA one day like your daddy."

"But dad eats cookies too. And ice cream, lots of ice cream."

Darn it, Haley thought to herself. When did he get so smart and observant? It was getting so much harder to trick him into things like eating healthy foods.

"Okay fine you can have a cookie but just one and you still have to eat the carrots." Haley giggled to herself listening to her son's moans about the vegetables. She finished packing his lunch and cleaned up the kitchen before getting all of her own belongings together for her very busy day.

"You remembered to put all of your homework back in your backpack last night right?" Haley asked Jamie as she responded to Peyton's text from earlier. She let her know that she was leaving soon and would call her once she got to the studio.

"Yes" Jamie responded, finishing up his eggs.

"Okay and you remember Uncle Skills is going to pick you up from school today, right? I have to work late so you'll get dinner with him."

"ALRIGHT!" Jamie cheered. He finally finished up his food and cleared the table, setting his dirty dishes on the counter.

"I'll get those later. Come on, we gotta get going." With that, Haley handed Jamie his school bag and lunch, grabbed her things and they were out the door.

"You know, I wish you were here." Haley said on the phone while she paced back and forth along the length of the office space at RBR.

"I know you do but don't worry. I have a really good feeling about this." Her friend, and now boss, Peyton encouraged.

"I'm sure you do." Haley said with an obvious sarcastic tone to her voice.

"Just call me later when it's all over with and let me know how it goes. I want to notify the label with an update as soon as possible. You know how they can be and I don't want them to be calling all weekend."

"You got it. I believe the last band is scheduled for around 6 so I'll call you as soon as they're done."

"Sounds great! Good luck Hales!"

"Thanks Peyton." Haley said, hanging up the phone, sounding a lot less excited than her friend on the phone.

The office work was taken care of. The room Haley set up for the auditions to take place was all ready to go. She had her schedule and notepad out and was as prepared as she was going to get. For some reason, Haley still couldn't shake her nerves. She felt that there was a lot of pressure on her with these auditions and she wasn't completely sure that she was the right person to make these big decisions for the label but Peyton trusted her and she hoped that that was enough. Haley just sat quietly for the next hour collecting her thoughts and mentally preparing herself for the rest of the day.

As soon as the clock struck 10:00 and it was time for the first audition, there was a knock on the door.

Let the games begin.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You didn't like any of them?"

"Well I didn't say that. I _liked_ a lot of them, I just didn't _love_ any." Haley explained on the phone to Peyton once all the auditions for the first day were over. "I want to love them, Peyton. They all have great talent and potential but none of them had the spark I was looking for. I want to find people who really love it, the ones with a true passion for music, who put their heart and soul into every note. I just didn't feel that today".

When there was silence on the other end of the phone, Haley felt what she had feared all week. "You're mad at me." She finally said, breaking the silence.

"I'm not mad at you. I wouldn't have asked you to do this Haley, if I didn't think you were the best person for the job. I'm just disappointed that we weren't able to find what we needed today." Peyton explained.

"I know but there's always tomorrow and maybe if I don't find what I'm looking for then, I'll just pick some of the best ones and maybe they'll find their magic through us."

"Alright Haley" Peyton chuckled at her friend's unfailing optimism. "Good luck tomorrow, remember to call me with any updates."

"Will do. Talk to you later." Haley said, hanging up the phone. She felt bad that she couldn't decide on any of the talent that she had seen that day but she knew she needed more. She was looking for something special, really special, and she just didn't get that feeling from anyone. She hoped she'd have better luck tomorrow, she wanted to make Peyton proud and know that she made the right decision in leaving Haley in charge of the studio.

It was late Thursday night and Haley was exhausted. She could barely sleep the night before with her nerves about the auditions keeping her up. Now all she wanted to do was get a good night's sleep before day two of the auditions in hopes that she will have better luck the second time around. She was up later than she wanted to be though, and so was Jamie. It was a school night and normally she would have had him fast asleep by now but she made exceptions on nights when Nathan's practices ran late and he couldn't call before Jamie's regular bedtime to say goodnight. Haley and Jamie sat in the living room of their big quiet house waiting for the phone to ring. The TV was on, some random cartoon that Jamie had picked was playing but Haley couldn't focus enough to know what it was or what was happening in the show. She was anxious to talk to her husband, she knew he would cheer her up after the day she had had.

Haley sat and listened to Jamie as he tried to convince her to buy him some new toy that he saw on a commercial when suddenly he was interrupted by the sound of their doorbell ringing. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was now 9:42pm. She wondered who would be at their door this late. She got up and made her way over to their front door to check it out.

"Is it the pizza guy?" Jamie called out after her.

"Jamie, you already ate dinner with Uncle Skills, why would I have ordered a pizza?"

"I don't know, it was just a guess. I wouldn't be mad if it were pizza though." He said with a teasing little grin on his face.

"Well I'm sure it's not pizza, honey." Haley replied, laughing at her silly son as she opened the door. She was confused to see that there was no one there. She took a step out and looked around wondering who it could have been. After realizing that there was no one around she stepped back inside the house, closed the door and locked it for the night.

"I don't see any pizza." Jamie observed as Haley sat back down on the couch next to him, empty handed.

"I told you there wasn't going to be any pizza. Are you still hungry? You sure can eat, can't you?"

"Then who was it?" Jamie asked, ignoring her questions.

"There was no one there. It was probably just the older kids down the street, playing some games." Haley guessed.

"Playing games? What kind of games?"

"Games that you shouldn't learn, you better not grow up to be one of those kids that runs around the neighborhood causing mischief like that."

"What's mischief?" Jamie asked as Haley's cell phone started to ring.

"Don't worry about it." She laughed. "Here, talk to your father." Haley handed the phone to Jamie and listened as he eagerly answered the phone.

Haley listened to Jamie talk for a while. Nathan always asked him how school was and what he learned. Jamie told him how they were learning about fractions this week and he made sure to tell him how boring he thought it was. She giggled, knowing that Nathan most likely agreed with his son, as she remembered how he would always complain during their tutoring sessions in high school about math being "useless and boring". Jamie then proceeded to tell Nathan about after school when he got to spend the rest of his day with his Uncle Skills down at the riverourt. Then, of course he had to ask Nathan all about his practice and everything he was doing as an NBA player. Jamie refused to get off the phone until he heard every detail, he always asked Nathan a million questions.

"Alright Jamie, say goodnight to your father, its way past your bedtime and you have to get up for school tomorrow." Haley finally said, interrupting their conversation when she realized just how late it was now.

"Okay" he groaned. "Mom says I have to go to bed now…..Night dad, talk to you tomorrow….love you too"

"Go on upstairs and finish getting ready for bed, I'll be up in a minute." Haley said, taking the phone from him before he made his way up the stairs to his room. "Don't forget to brush your teeth!" She called after him, imaging him rolling his eyes at her request.

"Hi baby, how are you?" Haley said to Nathan on the phone.

"Hey Hales, I'm good. Tired and sore but good. Especially now that I get to hear your voice."

"I bet you are tired, you've been having a lot of late practices this week, haven't you?"

"Yeah they're kicking things up a notch now that we're getting so close to the beginning of the season. Anyways, how was your day? Did the auditions go well?"

"No so great" Haley sighed. "I just didn't really feel like anyone I saw today was right for Red Bedroom. They were all good, you know, but they weren't great. I don't know, maybe I'm just putting too much pressure on myself and overthinking it all."

"No, I don't think you are. You'll know the right people to pick when you hear them. Just trust yourself okay? You can do this. I know you'll make the right decision." Nathan reassured her.

"Thanks, Nathan. You always make me feel better."

"That's what I'm here for."

"Mom! I brushed my teeth!" Haley heard a little voice from upstairs call out.

"Alright Nathan, it sounds like somebody is ready for bed. I better go tuck him in before he tries to talk me in to letting him stay up any later."

"Okay, goodnight angel. Good luck tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too, goodnight!" Haley hung up the phone and before going up to tuck in Jamie she went over to the front door to double check that it was locked as she always did when Nathan was away. She looked out the window one last time and only saw the quiet and still street under the moonlight. She then turned off the porch light and went to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

*Just want to give a little shout out to missmelsie for helping me out with a few special details for this chapter and of course for always being so encouraging to me and my writing! Love you, Mel! 3*

Chapter 5

It was early Friday morning, Haley had already dropped Jamie off at school and was back at it in the studio. She woke up that morning with an unexpected feeling of motivation and excitement. For some reason she had a feeling today would be a good day and it got her inspired to get to the studio early and work on some of her own music before the auditions started for the day. It had been a while since she had done some writing, she was always so busy with everything else that she never had time to focus on her own stuff but she felt now was the perfect opportunity to get some work done.

She had been so focused that she didn't even realize how long it had been since she started. A knock on the door pulled her out of song writing and she noticed it was already time for the first band of the day. She quickly put all her stuff away and went to greet the first band.

"Hi, welcome to Red Bedroom, I'm Haley."

It was already passed noon and Haley was starting to get worried. She had heard over a dozen different artist today and none of them really stuck out to her. She still had a sense of optimism as the day progressed though. She was determined to find the perfect fit for RBR.

The next artist walked in, a young girl, about sixteen with short, blonde hair, carrying an acoustic guitar. She wore a pair of light washed denim jeans with a few rips in them along with some converse sneakers, a Guns N Roses t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Haley smiled, this girl reminded her of Peyton from when they were in high school.

"Hey! Welcome to Red Bedroom Records. I'm Haley James Scott."

"Hi, thanks" The girl responded, sounding a little timid and nervous.

"What's your name?" Haley asked.

"I'm Danielle Lane but my friends call me Dani"

"It's nice to meet you, Dani. Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"Um, yeah, well I'm a junior at Tree Hill High. I've been singing pretty much before I could even talk. My mom bought me my first guitar when I was about nine and I've been writing my own songs and making music ever since."

"Awesome! So what are you going to be preforming for me today?" Haley had a really good feeling about this one so she was excited to hear what she had prepared for her.

"I'm going to play a song that I wrote called One Day, if that's alright."

"Yeah of course, go ahead. Whenever you're ready!" Haley told her.

Dani then put the guitar strap around her, took a deep breath and began to play. Haley noticed how she instantly lit up and played with a sense of fearlessness and confidence. Her voice was beautiful, she played with passion and there was no doubt this song came from her heart. For a sixteen year old, Dani was very mature in the way she sang. Haley couldn't take her eyes off of her and when the song was over, Haley wished that it had never ended, she wanted to hear more.

"Dani, that was incredible." Haley said giving her an applause.

"Really?" Dani asked with a nervous smile.

"I loved it! And you wrote that all by yourself?"

"Yeah, it's for someone special."

"Well I'm sure that person is very proud cause I know I'm so impressed. I'd love to hear more and I know Red Bedroom would love to have you if you'd like to join us here?"

"Wow, wait, really?"

"Yeah definitely. Do you have a demo with you? I'll just have to send it over to our president and get her approval but I'm sure she'll love you."

"Yes I do!" Dani said as she quickly pulled out an envelope with a cd in it from her back pocket and handed it over to Haley who sat at the table in front of her. "Um it's just a few songs I recorded at home on my laptop. The quality's not that great and I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for but..…"

"Awesome!" Haley interrupted her as she took the demo cd from her. "I'm sure they're great, don't worry about it, Peyton will love it. I'll just email this to her and we'll get back to you by tomorrow if that works for you".

"Yes that's perfect! Thank you" Dani answered quickly.

"Just leave your number here so I know where I can contact you" Haley said handing a paper over to her. "Thanks for coming in today, I hope to talk to you soon. Nice meeting you, Dani".

"You too, thank you"

After auditioning a ton of other artists for the rest of the afternoon without much luck after listening to Dani Lane, it was time for the very last band to audition.

"Hey guys, welcome to Red Bedroom" Haley greeted the four guys as they walked into the studio space. "Go ahead and set up and then we can talk before you start."

The boys carried in their equipment and instruments and began getting themselves in position to perform. They all looked as though they were a few years younger than Haley, 20, 21 maybe? They were all dressed very similar to one another and she could already guess what sort of sound they would have based on their appearance. She could also tell that they most likely had a few years of experience and were very serious about their music based on how prepare they were for this audition.

"So I'm Haley, I'm glad you all could be here today, would you like to tell me a little bit about yourselves?"

The tall, dark haired boy, holding his guitar, who Haley guessed was the lead singer by the way he stood in front next to the microphone that they placed right in the middle of their setup, was the first to speak "Hi, I'm Jesse".

"I'm Blake" the long haired, blonde boy by the keyboard said.

The short boy who wore a navy blue beanie and sat at the drums continued "Hey I'm Nick".

"My name's Greg" said the last one who stood with his bass guitar.

"And we're Dead of Night" Jesse finished.

"Dead of Night?"

"Yeah we're big Beatles fans" explained Greg.

"Oh nice! I love the Beatles. Blackbird is one of my all-time favorite songs." Haley replied. "So what are you guys going to play today?"

"It's one of our newer songs that we wrote specially for today. You're going to be the first to hear it, it's called Getting Closer to You." Jesse answered.

"Well I'm flattered to be the first person you've shared it with. Whenever you guys are ready, go for it." Haley said excited to hear what they had prepared for her.

"1…2…3…4" Nick shouted out, hitting his sticks together as he said each number.

They began to play and Haley quickly found the song to be very catchy. It wasn't too long before she was nodding her head and tapping her foot along to the beat. This band was so different from the ones she had seen earlier today and the day before. The other bands had all sounded great individually but couldn't find their sound together as groups, but these guys had amazing chemistry and everything flowed together nicely. Haley was very impressed by them.

"That was great, guys." Haley said once they were finished playing. "I would love to hear more from you, do you have a demo tape I could listen to?"

"Yup, it's right here." Jesse said as he put down his guitar and went over to a backpack that they had sat on the side when they first walked in. He pulled out their cd and handed it over to Haley.

"Awesome. I'm looking forward to hopefully working with you guys soon, if you'd like?"

"Yeah that'd be great" Jesse said, sounding very happy with Haley's proposal.

"Cool, so I'll definitely be in touch with you all this weekend after I speak with my boss and we can figure all the details out. If you could just leave me a good phone number that I can reach you on" Haley said as she slid a paper and pen forward for Jesse to write on.

"Thanks Haley, we look forward to hearing from you." Jesse said, handing the paper back over to Haley while the rest of the band starting packing up their things.

"It was a pleasure, have a great weekend!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After the auditions had officially ended and Haley sorted through all the notes she had taken and demos everyone had left for her, she quickly dialed the phone to tell Peyton the good news.

"Hello" Peyton answered on the first ring, she must have been anxiously waiting for that call all day.

"Hey Peyton!"

"You sound happy, I hope that means you have good news for me. How did it go?"

"So much better than yesterday! I found some people I think you are really going to like!" Haley was so excited to tell Peyton everything.

"Tell me about them."

"Okay well first there's this girl, her name's Dani. She goes to Tree Hill high but you would never know based on the way she sounds. She's so good and reminds me exactly of you. You'd love her. I know she's young and we'd have to get her parents to sign off on it and it might be a little difficult to find her some studio time with her school schedule and all but I think we can make it work. I mean she just has so much potential. I'm downloading the demo she gave me and emailing it to you now so you hear. Just give it a listen and let me know what you think, I..."

"Haley! Haley okay!" Peyton said laughing as she finally interrupted Haley's nervous rambling. "I get it. I trust your opinion Haley, I'm sure she is as great as you say she is."

"Okay but you still have to listen to the link I'm sending you right...NOW!" Haley said as she pressed "send" on the email to Peyton.

"Anyone else you liked?" Peyton asked while she waited for Haley's email to be delivered.

"There was this other band, Dead of Night, really good. Definitely a good fit for Red Bedroom, I think."

"Dead of Night?"

"Yeah they're big Beatles fans apparently." Haley explained.

"Okay gotcha. So what else do we know about them other than they like to get down to some Yellow Submarine?"

"Um not too much. I was so excited that I finally found a good band I liked that I didn't ask them very many details." Haley sat at the office desk looking at the cd case of the demo tape they had given her, while she waited for that one to download so she could also send it over to Peyton. "Oh here, they have their own website..." Haley said typing in the web address that was written on the cd case into her Internet browser.

"Already one step ahead of you. Here...about the band" Peyton said clicking through the tabs on the web page she found from her Google search. "They're from Raleigh and they seem to do a lot of local shows there so they have a lot of performance experience, which is good. It looks like they started the band their sophomore year of high school and played together up until they graduated, so they've been together for quite some time now. From what I can tell though, based on the dates of their songs and past performances, it looks like they stopped playing together for a while but just recently started back up again a few months ago."

"Hmm that's interesting. I wonder why that is."

"Probably just wanted to try new things, maybe do the college thing. You know how everyone is after they graduate, they go off and try to find themselves so they experiment with other stuff. After going their separate ways, they probably just got back together after realizing that that's what they really wanted to do all along. Kind of like you, with teaching and then finally coming to your senses and realizing that what you really needed to be doing was music. At _my_ studio, of course." Peyton said with a little bit of a teasing tone to her voice with that last part.

"Hey I actually liked teaching alright? But you do make a good point."

"I know I do. Speaking of your music, when am I going to be hearing the next single from Haley James Scott?"

"Actually, you would be very proud of me. I did a little writing of my own this morning, thank you very much."

"Wow I _am_ proud of you! Can I hear it?"

"It's not even closed to being finished yet and besides, I'll be spending a lot of my time with our new talent now so I don't know when I'll be done with it."

"Okay fair enough. I really do appreciate you doing this for me Haley, you've done a great job."

"Yeah no problem, I'm glad you trust me enough to be the one to do it!"

"Does that mean you also wouldn't have a problem with choosing one more person?"

"What do you mean?" Haley asked with confusion.

"The label wants us to sign at least 3 new artists."

"Are you serious? They're crazy!"

"I know Haley but you know how they are. If it were up to me, I'd be fine with the two you already picked but they insist on having three. Was there anyone else you liked? Someone with even a little bit of potential?" Peyton asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah I guess I could go back through my notes, listen to a few of the tapes that were left and see if I can come up with a good one. I'll send you the ones I like as soon as I'm done." Haley agreed.

"Perfect! Thank you thank you thank you!" Peyton cheered. "And I'll listen to the links you sent me and email you later tonight with the okay to call and confirm with Dani and Dead of Night. I'd like to get them in here to sign and get started by Monday if that's possible."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Thanks again Haley, you're the best!"

Once Haley got off the phone with Peyton, she got right to work on finding a third artist to go along with the two she had already selected. There were a few that she had enjoyed but none of them really stuck out too much. Haley spent the rest of her evening going back through the notes she had taken during each audition, listening to all the tapes that were left and even trying to do some online searching to see if she could find any of these artists' performances or other work. Maybe she had missed something while some of them were playing for her and she was determined to find someone that could be a nice addition to RBR along with Dani and D.O.N. After hours of going through everything again, Haley decided on about 4 different bands and artists that she felt had potential and she sent everything she could find about them over to Peyton. She hoped that Peyton could go through it all tonight and make a decision by morning when it was time for Haley to confirm with everyone and get them ready to officially sign with their label.

Although it had been a very productive day, Haley was glad it was finally over. She had ended up staying at the studio way longer than she had anticipated and felt bad for not being home to see Jamie for very long before it was his bedtime. Skills had picked him up from school again and hung out with him for the rest of the night which Haley knew he enjoyed but she was hoping to spend a little bit of time with him after her work was finished. She decided that in order for her to make it up to him, she'd take him out for some ice cream and let him stay up a little later tonight so they could play some games or watch a movie, it was Friday after all. Haley was suddenly full of excitement at the idea of spending some extra quality time with her son, she felt like she hadn't seen him at all this week. She quickly tidied up the studio, got all her belongings together so she could make her way over Skills' place and get her favorite little boy.


End file.
